The Tibetan language is generally classified as a
Tibeto-Burman language of the Sino-Tibetan language family although the
boundaries between 'Tibetan' and certain other Himalayan languages can be
unclear. According to Matthew Kapstein:
From the perspective of historical linguistics, Tibetan most closely
resembles Burmese among the major languages of Asia. Grouping these two
together with other apparently related languages spoken in the Himalayan
lands, as well as in the highlands of Southeast Asia and the Sino-Tibetan
frontier regions, linguists have generally concluded that there exists a
Tibeto-Burman family of languages. More controversial is the theory that
the Tibeto-Burman family is itself part of a larger language family,
called Sino-Tibetan, and that through it Tibetan and Burmese are distant
cousins of Chinese.
The language is spoken in numerous regional dialects which, although
sometimes mutually intelligible, generally cannot be understood by the
speakers of the different oral forms of Tibetan. It is employed throughout
the Tibetan plateau and Bhutan and is also spoken in parts of Nepal and
northern India, such as Sikkim. In general, the dialects of central Tibet
(including Lhasa), Kham, Amdo and some smaller nearby areas are considered
Tibetan dialects. Other forms, particularly Dzongkha, Sikkimese, Sherpa,
and Ladakhi, are considered by their speakers, largely for political
reasons, to be separate languages.[citation needed] However, if the latter
group of Tibetan-type languages are included in the calculation then
'greater Tibetan' is spoken by approximately 6 million people across the
Tibetan Plateau. Tibetan is also spoken by approximately 150,000 exile
speakers who have fled from modern-day Tibet to India and other countries.
Although spoken Tibetan varies according to the region, the written
language, based on Classical Tibetan, is consistent throughout. This is
probably due to the long-standing influence of the Tibetan empire, whose
rule embraced (and extended at times far beyond) the present Tibetan
linguistic area, which runs from northern Pakistan in the west to Yunnan
and Sichuan in the east, and from north of the Kokonor lake (Qinghai)
south as far as Bhutan. The Tibetan language has its own script that it
shares with Ladakhi and Dzongkha, which is derived from the ancient Indian
Brahmi script.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibet
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